In recent years, a remote control apparatus such as a commander mounted with a touch panel display has been spreading. The remote control apparatus is configured to remotely control an electronic device such as a television. Also, a remote control apparatus is known that detects a swipe and hold control designating an arbitrary contact starting point on the touch panel provided on a touch panel display and transmits a control command according to the detected result to the electronic device.
In this case, the swipe and hold control designating an arbitrary contact starting point denotes a control in which a finger or the like touches an arbitrary point in the contact detecting region of the touch panel, and the finger or the like is swiped while touching the touch panel and then is held on the touch panel while touching the touch panel. The swipe and hold control designating an arbitrary contact starting point enables the user's control without checking the display on the touch panel. Thus, the user can concentrate on watching and listening to the content or the like displayed on the electronic device.
The remote control apparatus transmits, to the electronic device in response to the swipe control, a control command indicating start of the swipe in a direction corresponding to the control direction. The remote control apparatus then transmits a control command indicating stop of the swipe in response to the cancellation of the hold control after the swipe control. Meanwhile, the electronic device, for example, moves the cursor and switches the display of the content on the display in response to the received control command.